London Marathon 2012

The Club numbers for the 2012 Virgin London Marathon took place at tonight's Committee meeting.

The lucky members were Lucy Jones (24608) and Delyth Evans (24609) with Cheryl Richards as "substitute".
Good luck to all.

London Marathon 2011

Only four Abergele Harriers completed the 2011 London Marathon. Unfortunately injuries and family issues meant that a number of other members had to postpone their entries until next year. Injuries also meant that three of the four members had times slower that their normal but the highlight of the day for the club was Dave Edward's wonderful personal best time by almost nine and a half minutes, finishing in an excellent 3h 48mins. First Harrier home on the day, was Darren Blazier, who although injured for the last few weeks, still managed to finish in a respectable time of 3h 32mins 22secs. Carole Willgoose, also injured recently, finished very well in 3h 45mins 37sec while Alan Lucas, a veteran of many many marathons, following a difficult year for him still completed the course in 6h 29mins 48secs.

London Marathon 2010

First Harrier home in London this year was Carol Willgoose who ran a magnificent time of 3hr 42mins 6secs, with almost perfect split times of 1:48:32 for the first 13.1 miles and 1:53:34 for the second. She also finished within the top 1,000 women overall and 53^rd overall in her age category. Second home, once again this year showing his experience over the distance, with just over four minutes between halves, was Alan Lucas, who finished in an excellent 3hrs 56mins 29secs for 29^th overall in the MV65 category. Dave Edwards also ran very well on the day, finishing in an excellent 4hrs 12mins 50secs, a little slower than last year but faster than 2007. Marathon debutant Cheryl Richards had arguably the race of the day, finishing in a tremendous time of 4hrs 52mins 33secs, demonstrating “experience” well beyond her years, running 2:23:54 for the first half and 2:28:39 for the second. Sue Calvert, who had one of the official Club places, and was again making her debut over the distance, just missed out on the five hour barrier, but was still extremely pleased with an excellent time of 5hrs and 23secs, for 409^th in the FV50 age category. The other club place went to the third debutant of the day Lucy Jones, who like the others ran outstandingly well to finish in a superb time of 5hrs 11mins 58secs, for 450^th in the same category. Rob Spotswood was the final Harrier home on the day, taking this one a bit easier than usual, but still finishing in a very creditable 5hrs 17mins.

London Marathon Criteria

At the AGM on Sunday 1st March the eligibility criteria for the Club's London Marathon numbers for the 2010 Marathon have been approved as follows;

1) You must be a fully paid up first claim member of the club before the 1st of January of the year of the draw for the places (ie the year before the Marathon in question).

2) You must produce proof of entry to the Marathon in question. (eg e-mail confirmation of entry or photocopy of written application).

3) A member cannot get the club place two years in a row unless there are less than two members who fulfil all the criteria.

London Marathon 2009

The club's two guaranteed London places this year have gone to Dave Edwards and Simon Grant. Congratulations and good luck to both.

In view of some difficulties with the online entry this year the club will debate the required criteria for entering into the club draw at the AGM in 2009. If you have any thoughts on the matter come to the AGM, or if unable to do that please let one of the committee members know your opinion.

London Marathon 2008

Five members were in action in the Flora London Marathon this year, all achieving tremendous times. The first of the two Official Club places had gone to Simon Grant who was running the distance for the first time. Grant had a fantastic run, finishing in a tremendous time of 3hrs 12mins and 36secs, a time good enough for 6^th M18 overall, an absolutely outstanding achievement in his first marathon. Carol Willgoose, running with the club’s second official number, ran a remarkable 3hrs 38mins 2secs, despite being injured for the last few weeks. Alan Lucas, a veteran of very many London Marathons, ran his usual extremely steady race, finishing in 3hrs 43mins 36secs, an almost identical time to two years ago, proving he is right back to form. Pete Smith, running London for the second time, took an astounding 25 minutes off his previous best for the distance; finishing in 3hrs 51mins 48secs well up in the top 25 per cent of finishers. Allison Guillemin also achieved a personal best time for the distance, by over four minutes, with a superb time of 4hrs 16mins 39secs, another wonderful time, especially considering the horrendous weather conditions on the day.

Members are reminded that applications for the 2009 Flora London Marathon will only be accepted on-line and only the first 120,000 entries will be entered into the ballot. Entries are now being accepted on www.london-marathon.co.uk

http://www.london-marathon.co.uk

London Marathon 2007

Of the Harriers who travelled to London this year, a number were tackling the distance for the first time. First Harrier home in his first ever marathon, was Keith Elliott in a fantastic time of 4 hours and 37 seconds, an outstanding debut time considering the temperatures on the day. Next home was seasoned campaigner Robert Spotswood, completing the course in 4hrs 7mins 22secs. Dave Edwards, running with one of the Club’s two guaranteed places, had an outstanding run, finishing in a wonderful 4hrs 14mins 21secs, not far ahead of another debutant Peter Smith, who ran an equally impressive 4hrs 16mins 17secs, again superb times given the conditions. Alison Guillemin, running with the club’s second guaranteed place, this year dressed as a schoolgirl, bur still managed an extremely respectful time of 4hrs 39mins 46secs.

Time to think about next year already!

The rules for applying for one of the Club's Guaranteed places will be as follows;

You must;

1) Be a fully paid up first-claim member of Abergele Harriers.

2) Have attended 15 Wednesday training sessions between January 2007 and December 2007.

3) Have applied, and been rejected for the 2008 race.

Get training!